


One More Reason

by Epiphanyx7



Category: Galaxy Quest (1999)
Genre: Community: cliche_bingo, F/M, Fluff, Other, Schmoop, Tentacles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-08-24
Updated: 2009-08-24
Packaged: 2017-10-16 20:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/168921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Epiphanyx7/pseuds/Epiphanyx7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And yeah, sure, he had fallen in love with Laliari because she was a beautiful person. That was what love is, after all, but he still didn't understand why everyone else didn't see how beautiful she was.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One More Reason

**Author's Note:**

> [[Written for Cliché Bingo 2009. Cliché: Tentacles]] Fred Kwan / Laliari, of Galaxy Quest. They are so cute together.

It hadn't been her looks, or xenophilia, or any of a hundred thousand different reasons that he could have fallen in love with Laliari. It was, plain and simple, that she had _looked_ at him, not scared or awed or with blind, childish faith the way so many of the Thermians did. She looked at him with certainty, a confidence in his abilities that he didn't have himself, a strength. She'd known what he was capable of, and she was not afraid because of it. That, the humbling power of her confidence, her certainty, the way she celebrated with him, ecstatic in the face of a victory that only she had been sure of -- that had cemented it. Fred knew that she was the one he wanted to spend his life with.

It wasn't even possible for him to not have fallen deeply in love with her. It was fate, kismet, serendipity rolled into one. And the fact that her true form wasn't a human -- Fred didn't think he had to overlook it. It wasn't as if it were a failing. It was, simply put, merely one more reason for him to have fallen in love with her.

And yeah, sure, he had fallen in love with Laliari because she was a beautiful person. That was what love is, after all, but he still didn't understand why everyone else didn't see how beautiful she was.

He liked the way she was, not the way she appeared with the holographic projector. The silky smooth skin of her limbs, almost slippery to the touch, the way she could wrap herself completely around him, soft and pliant. It was lovely, comforting in more than one way. The soft, barely discernible patterns on her skin, swirls of colour like droplets of dye in a glass of water. She held onto everything lightly, balanced on her limbs, suctioning them into place before they had a chance to slip. He liked that about her, he liked everything about her, not just the way she  absorbed knowledge like a sponge, the way she chortled with joy when she learned new words in English that didn't have an equivalent in Thermian.

She'd giggled for a week about the word "hyperbole", whispering in his ear about a historical account she'd read. "Ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million," and he'd run his hands over the smooth skin of her abdomen, delicate and tissue-thin, so sensitive that she'd shuddered all over, wrapping her limbs around his wrists and pinning him down to the bed.

He'd been so scared, initially, that Laliari would be unhappy with him, that he would somehow let her down. And yet her faith in him, her steady confidence, had been what made him fall in love with her -- he wasn't sure how he would survive if she lost her faith in him.

Laliari didn't, though, she knew the words "actor" and "hypothetical" and "metaphor" as well, and she'd stroked a quick, fleeting caress over his cheek, her hologram projecting a sweet smile. "I understand," She said, and she kissed his mouth and called him Fred, and he had to believe that she really did understand.

She loved earth, though, happier than he'd seen her aboard the ship, happier than he'd ever seen one of the Thermians -- and that was one source of pride for him, that he could make her happy, could teach her how to swim in a wave pool, her laughter echoing around them.

Her eyes grew wide when Fred explained about holding hands, that it was a completely harmless, socially acceptable form of behaviour. Things that he'd taken for granted all of his life were completely new to her -- the Thermians had kept a small bubble of personal space around themselves at all times, standing close for comfort but not touching, not in public. Laliari had been hesitant at first, because to her it was like a kiss. She barely skimmed her fingers over his when in front of strangers, in front of people she didn't know or trust. It was a long time before she held his hand in public, the expression on her face bright and proud and a little bit defiant.

"I love you," He said, blurting it to her as she cuddled around him in the bathtub, both of them covered in scented bubbles.

She smiled at him. "I love you," Laliari said softly. "Fred Kwan, my tech sergeant Chen."

-  



End file.
